Theatre and Dance Scholarships

Department of Theatre and Dance

Get Ready to Audition!

Acting Audition requirements and tips:

You have a maximum of five (5) minutes. We would prefer to see you perform two contrasting monologues, each about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes in length. By contrasting, we mean material that utilizes different sides of you as a performer. This contrast could mean one serious and one comic piece, or one contemporary/modern language piece coupled with a classical piece (e.g., Shakespeare and Moliere).

If you would like to sing for one of your pieces, please do so. An accompanist and/or audio system will be provided; usually 16 measures or one verse of a song is sufficient. Please sing a song from a musical, NOT a top 40 hit, and remember, songs must be acted too!

Do material that shows off your best and strongest skills as a performer--that's what we want to see! For example, do you have a sense of humor? Do you have good comic sense/timing? A strong sense of your own physicality? Can you present honest and grounded work? Do you have a sense of vulnerability? Can you incorporate a strength or weakness in your character as called for in the text? Can you incorporate all of these without always making the cliché choice? Are you creative? These are things we are trying to discern in your audition!

Avoid Shakespeare unless you have experience and feel comfortable with it. Without more training, we don't expect you to present this material, but if you feel comfortable and confident with it, by all means go ahead!

Avoid speech/forensics pieces. Many times, we see students bring in speech cuttings that have been successful at their speech meets throughout the year. While these do show off skills, we prefer to see material from plays that have fully developed characters. Novels, stories, poems, and similar works usually are not meant to be performed, but to be read. Acting is action and plays provide that type of material.

Relax! When you audition, we like to make it as relaxed as possible for you. Facing a group of faculty can be intimidating, but please remember WE WANT YOU TO DO YOUR BEST! We like to see talent! Work with your drama teacher to put together the best audition possible. Show him/her these requirements, and by all means, have him/her call us if s/he has any questions (307-766-5100).

Wear something that is flattering to you, but also comfortable. If you feel awkward in stilettos, don't wear them. Suits and ties are nice, but if wearing them restricts your audition in any way, choose something else. Be sure to introduce the names of your selections at the beginning of your audition, and to tell us your name. Don't describe the scene or setting of the piece you are about to do, just do it! Most of the time, we are familiar with the plays you choose. If not, a short description (as we see in many speech cuttings) won't help much anyway.

Finally, stay around and chat with our faculty. Get to know us and allow us to get to know you! Mature, serious, and creative students make the best candidates for scholarships, so whatever you can show us of these attributes during your two days with us will help. Talk with our students, look at the facilities, take in a show if possible, and sit in on our classes if you can make the time for it. We want you to be happy with your choice of school! Break a leg!

Technical Scholarship interview requirements and tips:

For the scholarship auditions, we ask technical/design students formally to present a portfolio of their work to date and to provide a resume. Begin with an introduction of yourself, where you are from, and what level you are in your training. Briefly discuss your goals as a technician or designer. Then present your actual materials. You have a maximum of 10 minutes.

A few general recommendations:

Appearance is important. Dress well, in something that is flattering to you, but comfortable. Ladies, if you feel awkward in stilettos, don't wear them! Suits and ties are nice for men, but if wearing these restricts your presentation in any way, choose something else.

Be as neat and meticulous as possible with your visual materials for presentation. Your visual presentation is a reflection of your organizational skills.

Be extremely positive when discussing your work. You should exude a positive self-image and a sense of enthusiasm for your career and your work.

Don't just show your photographs or renderings: provide a brief explanation of why you think this project was special or significant.

In terms of layout, the general practice is to list your best skills first. The same is true of your resume. List your most current experience (which should reflect your best work) and work backwards.

And finally, practice your presentation. Portfolio material is difficult to handle. You will stay much better poised if you have handled it previously.

When you audition, we like to make it as relaxed as possible for you. Facing a group of faculty can be intimidating, but please remember WE WANT YOU TO DO YOUR BEST! We like to see talent!

We also hope that after the auditions you'll stay around and chat with our faculty during our informal reception. Get to know us and allow us to get to know you! Mature, serious, and creative students make the best candidates for scholarships, so whatever you can show us of these attributes during the time you are here will help. Come a day before auditions, talk with our students, look at the facilities, take in a show if possible, and sit in on our classes if you can make the time for it. We want you to be happy with your choice of school! Break a leg!

Dance Audition requirements and tips:

Students auditioning for dance scholarships should prepare one dance piece, two (2) minutes in length, in the style of your choice (modern, ballet, or jazz). The genre that you choose should consist of movement that is exemplary of your training background and should demonstrate your personal style as a performer. If you tap, we would be delighted to see an additional short (one minute or less) selection that demonstrates this ability!

We will provide an accompanist and/or audio system player for your audition. Please come prepared with your music cued-up and ready to go. The floor on which you will be auditioning is a surface well-suited for all types of dancing, so you need not worry about slipping if you decide to perform on pointe for your audition.

Introduce yourself just before you begin your audition piece, state the music and the composer's name which you have selected for accompaniment, and the choreographer of your piece.

Students are often worried about how to get audition material together and whose choreography they can use. It is certainly fine to choreograph your own audition material, or you might look to your dance teacher for help in this area. If you do choreograph your own dance, please let us know after you have introduced yourself at the beginning of your audition. It is always nice to see students who are willing to set original audition material. Choreography is a very important part of our dance curriculum!

Relax! When you audition, we like to make it as relaxed as possible for you. Facing a group of faculty can be very intimidating, but please remember WE WANT YOU TO DO YOUR BEST! We like to see talent!

Wear dance apparel that is flattering to you, but also comfortable. Flashy costumes are not what we are interested in. We want to see your body type, so more conservative tights and leotards are certainly appropriate and preferred. Be sure to introduce yourself just before you begin your audition piece and tell us the music and the name of the composer who you have selected for accompaniment, as well as the choreographer of your piece.

If you are a dancer with a background in theatre, do feel free to participate in the theatre auditions. We are a theatre AND dance department, and strength in two suits will only help your chances of attaining a scholarship. So show your stuff! (It might be helpful for you to read the Acting Audition Requirements and Tips above)!

After the auditions, stay around and chat with our faculty. Get to know us and allow us to get to know you! Mature, serious, and creative students make the best candidates for scholarships, so whatever you can show us of these attributes during the time you are here will help. Talk with our students, look at the facilities, and take in a show if possible. Again, we want you to be happy with our school!